Beachcomber

If all seven candidates for the CityCouncil seat vacated by StateSenator Joseph Addabbo Jr. showup for the candidate forum to behosted on February 9 by The Waveat West End Temple, it should be abanner evening and a chance forvoters to hear firsthand whateach of the candidates stands foron the vital issues that face us in2009 and beyond. Of the seven,three are Rockaway residents:Geraldine Chapey, Lew Simonand Glenn DiResto. Two of thenames are familiar because theyare our local Democratic districtleaders. DiResto, a retired NYPDLieutenant, is the one local newcomer.The four mainland candidatesare Sam DiBernardo, FrankGulluscio, Mike Ricatto and EricUlrich. All of the candidates havebeen invited both by telephoneand email. We certainly hope theyall show up for our forum, but wewould not be surprised if some didnot want to be questioned abouttheir activities or their candidacy.Remember that every vote counts.In an election with seven candidatessharing perhaps 5,000 or6,000 votes, anything can happen.

It's sometimes hard to understand our politicians and the statements they make. State Senator Malcolm Smith is now the Senate Majority Leader, and he has been representing Rockaway for many years. When a Rockaway man was recently shot and killed in front of the Jamaica Houses, however, he issued a statement that calls for increased police patrols around the public housing complex and wondered aloud how three men could be shot in full daylight on a busy street with no eyewitnesses. Smith should know that the credo in this community is that you don't speak to police officers and you keep your mouth shut about crime. When a young girl was shot at the Redfern Houses last year, it took cops a long time to find the shooter even though a number of people knew who did it, but refused to speak with detectives. Also, people are afraid to speak out because they fear that they will be the shooter's next target. Smith should know that it is the norm for eyewitnesses to remain mum, rather than the exception.

Senator Shirley Huntley, who representsBroad Channel in theState Senate, has been appointedto a number of high-visibility committees.She was appointed bySenator Malcolm Smith to chairthe Health Committee. In addition,she has been appointed as amember of the education, highereducation and children and familyservices committee.

Anybody who has ever parked on Beach 116 Street has seen traffic enforcement agents standing by a parked car, looking at their watch, just waiting for the parking slip on the front window to expire before the motorist comes back to his or her car. Two city councilmembers (not any who represent Rockaway, of course) have proposed a bill that would allow a fiveminute grace period after the slip expires before a TEA can write a ticket. The law would apply to no-parking zones, alternate side parking and muni-meters as well as regular street meters. Mayor Bloomberg, of course, does not like the idea of giving taxpayers a break and he promises to veto the bill should it cross his desk. "If you change the time, people would wait another five minutes and then ask for another grace period," he said. "Pretty soon, you'd have no ability to collect parking meter payments."

The New York Times recently dida full-page spread on the changesthat various neighborhood's haveseen since 2000. Some of Rockaway'schanges from 2000 to 2008are enlightening. There are now19 percent more females in Rockawayand Broad Channel and 17percent more residents betweenthe ages of 25 and 34. In addition,the population has grown by 14percent. What does that tell us? Itlooks as if Rockaway is growing ata record clip, and that the majorityof those who are moving hereare younger females. What doesthat portend for us if the trendcontinues? Who knows?

In the November 21, 2008 issue of The Wave, we published a list of the registered sex offenders who live in Rockaway. In that report, we erred by printing that Bruce McCoy had been convicted of first degree sexual assault of an eight-year-old, when in fact that conviction was for the sexual assault of a 28-year-old. We apologize for our typographical error and hope that it did not cause McCoy or his family any embarrassment.

The people who live in the houseat 120-07 Rockaway Beach Boulevard,identified in last week's paperas the domicile of an emotionallydisturbed man who held policeat bay, emailed us to say that wehad the wrong house, that it wasthe house next door at 120-09Rockaway Beach Boulevardwhere all the action took place. Aquick check on a Photoshop programto blow up the address signon the home shows that they areright. The photo is indeed of 120-07 rather than 120-09, and weregret any inconvenience or embarrassmentwe caused the homeownersat 120-07 Rockaway BeachBoulevard.